Allegations in politics frequently say more about the ‘alligators’ than about their targets. Labour people perceive complicated conspiracies because they live in a conspiratorial culture. The Rt Hon Winston Peters spews out accusations of corruption and sinister foreign influences, which may highlight his own temptations.

For a vignette here’s Winston’s riposte to the Campaign for Change’s challenge to him to debate MMP (given that MMP gifted him the power to decide who ruled in two out of five elections -and to reserve baubles of office for himself). Jordan Williams, the spokesperson for Campaign for Change, is normally one of my employees. He’s had unpaid leave to work for the campaign for several months:  

 “PRESS RELEASE

 Rt.  Hon Winston Peters Leader NZ First

 October 30th 2011

 ‘Vote for Sanity’

 Jordan Williams needs media recognition.  Without it this pimple on the face of the body politic returns to oblivion.  A brief minute of glory.

How many such people have we seen?  Here today, gone tomorrow.  He and his twenty innocent supporters for elitism have got to be a secret plant by supporters of MMP. Surely this cannot be the best that foreign money, poking its greedy nose in to domestic politics, can do. “

 I admire Winston’s style – nothing namby-pamby from Winston. But even if venality is not a susceptibility  he’s surely reached self parody in lining up “foreign money” and  “greed” to disparage those urging a vote for a free option on a referendum to replace MMP. Free options seem to me to be a no-brainer.

 As for the foreign money – I’ll be chagrined if Jordan Williams is hiding cash flows from Monaco or any other places Winston seems to know so much about. We suspended Jordan for the duration, because the Campaign for Change could not afford to engage my firm for his time. 

 I should ask Mr Peters for more detail, then review that decision.